*G0O SOME 

OF THE 

DANGERS OF TEACHERS. 



AN ADDRESS 



DELIVERED BEFORE THE 



AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF INSTRUCTION, 



PORTLAND, ME., AUGUST 31, 1844. 



BY DANIEL P. GALLOUP, 

Principal of the West Grammar School, Salem, Mass. 



BOSTON: 
WILLIAM D. TICKNOR & CO., 

Corner of Washington and School Streets. 
1844. 



SOME 



DANGERS OF TEACHERS. 



AN ADDRESS 



DELIVERED BEFORE THE 



AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF INSTRUCTION, 



AT 



PORTLAND, ME., AUGUST 30, 1844, 



BY DANIEL P. GALLOUP, 

Salem, Massachusetts. 



BOSTON: 
WILLIAM D. TICKNOR & CO., 

Comer of Washington and School 'Streets. 
1844. 



LB/045 - 

.Gss- 






SOME OF THE 

DANGERS OF TEACHERS. 



BY DANIEL P. GALLOUP, 

Salem, Massachusetts. 



In all the employments of life, and in every branch of 
business in which we may be engaged, we are liable to 
fall into errors of misconception, or of practice, which 
experience alone will correct ; and which this oftentimes 
fails of entirely effecting. From this common lot of im- 
perfect humanity, the teacher is by no means exempt ; 
if, indeed, he be not, from the nature of his employment, 
more fearfully exposed than others. He is in danger 
from causes existing within himself, and he is in danger 
from the influence of external causes which he may have 
less power to modify, but which are still, to some degree, 
under his control. It is of some of those dangers to 
which teachers are particularly exposed, that I propose 
at this time, briefly to speak ; — dangers, which in my 



4 MR. GALLOUP S LECTURE. 

limited experience, I have been made to feel are not alto- 
gether imaginary, — dangers few in comparison, it may be, 
with those which others have discovered, who have fath- 
omed the depths, and scaled the heights of the teacher's 
experience. 

I. The teacher is in danger of forgetting, to some 
extent, the silent influence of his own example upon those 
committed to his charge. 

We too often forget, in our intercourse with children, 
that they are children ; — that they are governed less by 
theory than by example ; — that their sympathies are easily 
excited ; — that there is a sympathetic chain, binding 
them to their teacher, which they are never able fully to 
sunder. How important then, that this chain should be 
the silken cord of love, and not the debasing and repul- 
sive bond of fear or hatred. Philosophy and experience 
establishes the truth of the Prussian maxim, that "as is 
the teacher, so is the school." A stupid, selfish, in- 
competent master, will most assuredly run down the best 
school in New England ; and this deterioration will be 
in direct proportion to the length of time, such school is 
permitted to remain under his influence. While, on the 
other hand, an intelligent, conscientious, well prepared 
teacher, will as assuredly lift up to a level with himself 
the most backward school in the state. So true is it, that 
all streams flow level with their founts. 

We are too much inclined to look away from ourselves 
for causes, with which we have a more intimate connec- 
tion. Children are creatures of imitation. Their minds, 
their feelings, and their impulses, are all easily controlled, 
guided, and made to assimilate to the pattern which they 



DANGERS OF TEACHERS. 5 

have constantly before them. Its silent influence is ever 
felt and heeded. Who has not witnessed, at times, the 
apparent utter impossibility of leading scholars to attend 
quietly and silently to their duties in school ; when all 
efforts on the part of the teacher, to direct the energies 
of his pupils and quell the rising tumult, tend but to in- 
crease the gathering storm. It is in vain, and worse than 
in vain, for the teacher at such times to attempt to force 
onward his plans, however judiciously they may have 
been formed, or however well they may have succeeded 
under other circumstances. Let him pause and reflect, 
if reflect he can in the midst of such excitement ; let him 
look within himself, and see how much of his present 
troubles may have originated in his own feelings, if not 
in his own acts, — how much of the impatience of his 
scholars may be attributed to his own impatience, — how 
much indeed, of the day's disasters, might have been 
read by an attentive observer in his own morning's face. 

" He, who would have friends, must show himself 
friendly ;" and the teacher, who would have kind, affec- 
tionate, and obedient pupils, — manly in their deportment, 
and circumspect in their behavior, — must possess in him- 
self all those desirable mental and moral qualities which 
will beget the same in others. A teacher, who would 
exert a good moral and spiritual influence upon his school, 
should be firm but gentle, dignified but not arrogant. If 
he wishes to cultivate a domineering, haughty, and turbu- 
lent disposition, rather than one of ready acquiescence, 
and heartfelt obedience, let him be dictatorial and assum- 
ing in his own deportment, — always speak in the im- 
perative mode, — never condescend to ask, but always to 
command, and he will most assuredly succeed ; not that 
1* 



6 

teachers should not command and be obeyed, but there 
is as much difference in the different modes of obtaining 
this result, as there is between obedience and disobe- 
dience ; and while the firm, but mild and gentle course, 
will in most cases prove successful, the haughty and arro- 
gant will almost as certainly fail. 

True dignity of character will always be associated 
with artlessness and simplicity of manner. Children are 
keen observers, and they shrink instinctively from artifi- 
cial austerity, or laugh at its absurdity. A teacher, who 
should move about the school-room with a haughty, dom- 
ineering manner, might talk loud and long about moral 
duties and correct deportment to little purpose. So with 
the tones of the voice in which he addresses his pupils. 
If he is loud and boisterous in his manner, and sharp and 
crabbed in his speech, attempting to win by assuming an 
unnatural and dogmatical tone of authority ; he shuts up 
the hearts of his children, — awakens in their breasts a 
spirit of repulsion, if not a feeling of disgust, — the spell 
by which they were bound is broken, and " they will not 
listen to the voice of the charmer, charm he never so 
wisely ;" — while a naturalness of manner, joined with an 
honest frankness of speech, will win the confidence, love, 
and respect of the child or the man, and induce him to 
listen calmly and patiently to truths unpalatable in them- 
selves, and which under other circumstances might be 
resented or repelled. 

If the teacher has any sly ways of detecting scholars in 
their mischief ; if he resorts to stratagem or artifice to 
circumvent their plans ; or does any thing which is cun- 
ning or deceitful ; he teaches cunning and deception to 
the children. If he drills them on certain passages or 



DANGERS OF TEACHERS. 



questions, to be used on certain occasions to show them 
off to advantage ; and gives that exhibition as a fair sam- 
ple of their general scholarship ; he teaches deception. 
It is a practical lesson, not soon forgotten, and an evil is 
committed, for which ho present good can in any sense 
be considered an equivalent. A teacher should never 
resort to any artifice, but ever be distinguished for upright- 
ness and sincerity of character, — in the minutest particu- 
lar fair and honorable, — transparent as the thinnest crystal. 
In vain will he strive to inspire his pupils with a love for 
truth, unless he is inspired with a love for it himself. He, 
who governs himself best, will always govern his school 
best. 

Example is all powerful in its influence upon the com- 
munity. If it be true with adults, that "evil communi- 
cations corrupt good manners ;" how emphatically true 
must it be of children, at that peculiar period of life, in 
which of all others impressions are the most readily and 
most permanently made ; when example never fails to 
influence and help to form the character, while precept 
may fall powerless upon the ear, or fail entirely to affect 
the heart. When the teacher witnesses, as he at times 
will, the impatient, irritable disposition of his scholars ; — 
the outbursting of this impatience, it may be, in action if 
not in word, let him turn his thoughts homeward and in- 
ward, and see if he cannot there discover the first rip- 
pling of the stream, the impetuosity of whose swelling 
current he now finds it so difficult to control ; — if the 
tardy conception of the child, or his more than common 
excitability, has not been construed into a wilful stub- 
bornness, or downright insubordination, until loud words 
and heavy blows serve but to increase the evil. Surely 



the teacher needs to cultivate patience in himself, if he 
would see it flourish in others. 

Intellectually, as well as morally, the school will re- 
semble the teacher. Though there may be some minds 
that will soar above all obstacles, still the mass of pupils 
who give character to the school, will rarely rise higher 
than the fountain, whence they derive their mental sup- 
plies. If that fountain be circumscribed in its limits, 
possessing surface, it may be, but no depth, with no 
streams flowing in to give activity, energy, and life, to 
the little which it contains, then the supplies which it 
furnishes, must be comparatively small in quantity, and 
partake in quality of the mass, from which they are drawn. 
In other words, if the teacher is superficial in his attain- 
ments, with no deep-felt need, and strong aspirings for 
more, — though he may, in his own estimation, be pos- 
sessed of all desirable knowledge, and like Goldsmith's 
schoolmaster, " e'en the story run that he can gauge," 
his scholars will be likely to partake of his own self- 
sufficiency, and like him be satisfied with small attain- 
ments. There is nothing, perhaps, more to be depre- 
cated, than a feeling among scholars that they have arrived 
at the acme of all knowledge, and consequently possess 
no disposition to put forth further effort, and strive fori 
higher and still higher attainments. One's efforts wil 
always correspond to the standard which he has set up, 
either real or imaginary, and which it is his object to 
attain ; and the pupil's ideal, will be the real standard of 
the teacher. 

II. In the teacher's eagerness to advance his pupils, 
there is danger of his resorting to motives addressed main- 



DANGERS OF TEACHERS. 9 

ly to their selfish and sensual passions ; and thus strength- 
en, and render too active, those principles of our nature, 
which in most cases are too strong already. 

Appeals are frequently made to the emulation of chil- 
dren, by the bestowment of prizes, or otherwise re- 
warding successful effort; a practice founded in error, as 
I think, and oftentimes productive of much evil. If edu- 
cation consisted in accumulating and storing up a certain 
amount of intellectual lumber, irrespective of the means 
employed to accomplish this end, then, indeed, it would 
become of little consequence what motives were used as 
incentives to action. But if education consists in the 
proper developement and training of all the faculties, 
giving to none an undue preponderance, but to each and 
all a due share of attention, then it becomes of the ut- 
most importance, that no motive should be presented 
whose tendency would be to produce an undue develope- 
ment of a part, at the expense of the other faculties of 
the mind ; or, which should cultivate the intellectual at 
the expense of the moral powers. It can scarcely be 
less objectionable, to present any motive for exertion, 
like that of the bestowment of a prize, which would in 
any case be mistaken for the end or object of education, 
and that an end attainable only by the few, and not within 
the reach of the many. 

If certain limits could be prescribed, attainable by all, 
and yet taxing alike the energies of all, then, indeed, the 
bestowment of prizes might not excite such deep feelings 
of envy and ill will among the several competitors, as 
ever must be excited, so long as all, who run, do not 
obtain the reward. It will be found in most cases, that 
the number really contending for the prize, will be very 



10 MR. GALLOUP'S LECTURE. 

few, in comparison with the whole ; and that the success- 
ful competitors, or all, who really strive, having consider- 
ed the prize as the only good to be obtained, and having 
arrived at the ultimate end of all their hopes, will lose 
their interest, and relax their efforts, for the want of a 
sufficiently stimulating motive beyond this ; and, that the 
mass of pupils, who feel the utter impossibility of their 
succeeding, will manifest still less energy, and put forth 
less effort, than they would do were they not thus sepa- 
rated from their more fortunate companions ; — fortunate, 
as they will esteem them, either in the natural endow- 
ments with which they are favored, or the external cir- 
cumstances by which they are surrounded. It may be 
said, that the instinct, or propensity of emulation, is im- 
planted in us by nature, and should therefore be culti- 
vated like any other natural endowment : so are the in- 
stincts of anger, pride, and the other selfish and sensual 
passions. They are given to us for wise purposes : we 
cannot rid ourselves of them if we would ; we should not 
if we could. But from some cause, they are too strong 
already, they need cultivating, but they need repressing 
rather than inflaming. If the conscience could be ren- 
dered so sensitive and active, as to keep pace with the 
ambition, there might be less danger; but in our country, 
where the one is almost entirely neglected in our systems 
of education, while the other is stimulated to the highest 
degree by the whole framework of society, there is dan- 
ger that the character may become an ill balanced one, 
and the community suffer in consequence. 

It is time that this important subject, of employing the 
motive of rivalry in our schools, which has been so long 
discussed, should be finally and rightly settled. Much 



DANGERS OF TEACHERS. 11 

depends upon the settlement of this question in reference 
to our moral and political character as a people, — much 
in reference to the ultimate predominance or subjection 
of that party spirit, and that love of power and distinction, 
which is fast taking the place of the patriotism which ani- 
mated the fathers of our country. Much, very much de- 
pends upon the care of the instructers who sow the seed, 
as to what shall be the character of the harvest which 
may be reaped thirty years hence, when those boys now 
at school shall become the rulers and electors of the land. 
Their influence is fearful, nay, it may be decisive on the 
question, whether we shall then be enjoying the rich 
fruits of industry, virtue, and peace, or be palsied by 
vice, and torn and distracted by civil dissension. 

Another motive, to which appeals are too frequently 
made, is that of fear ; not that high and ennobling fear of 
doing wrong, because it is wrong, but the low, debasing 
and cowardly fear of bodily pain ; received as a punish- 
ment, and oftentimes by the child, as an equivalent for 
wrong doing. Although it may be, and often is the duty 
of the teacher who would be faithful to his trust, to inflict 
bodily pain ; yet its frequency should be avoided, and 
the fear of its infliction should never be allowed to be- 
come a predominant motive, to influence the child in the 
performance of his duties. A sensitiveness to bodily 
pain forms no part of the disinterested, self-sacrificing, 
and heroic character which ever excites our admiration ; 
and should therefore be discouraged, rather than strength- 
ened. A free and frequent use of the rod, at home or at 
school, renders the character pusillanimous, selfish, and 
tyrannical ; it should be used only as a last resort ; and 
then, not as a kind of offset or equivalent which atones 



12 MR. GALLOUP'S LECTURE. 

for the fault, but as a sure consequence, a final result of a 
course of evil. Punishments should be inflicted seriously, 
feelingly, and in love rather than in anger ; and the child 
should be made to see, and to feel, that they are thus in- 
flicted ; for, they will fail of the desired effect, unless it be 
made evident to his mind, that the infliction, even of de- 
served punishment, is as painful to him who administers, 
as to him who receives the chastisement. Care should 
be taken, lest by a summary and hasty manner of punish- 
ing, the child be encouraged and trained in the practice of 
a course of deception, which it is ever as painful to witness 
as it is difficult to overcome ; a course which may prove 
successful in making a good scholar, but which will most 
assuredly make a bad man. 

The teacher should be careful to make it felt by his 
pupils, that he is interested in their welfare. Without 
this real interest and sympathy on the part of the teacher, 
he will be unable to understand, or properly to estimate, 
the little trials, troubles, and difficulties, which the child 
meets in his progress. He will be likely to see faults 
where none exist ; to attribute to malice, or design, what 
might have been the result of ignorance, impulse, or 
thoughtlessness. Children oftener act from impulse than 
from premeditation ; from thoughtlessness than from de- 
sign ; and yet how often is the wrong act put down as a 
crime, the wrong-doer treated as a criminal, while the 
intent to do evil, which alone constitutes crime in the 
eyes of all law, human and divine, is wanting. It is un- 
reasonable to suppose that children are actuated by evil 
motives, when others are so obvious ; to treat them as 
guilty until they are proved to be innocent. Such a 



DANGERS OF TEACHERS. 13 

course, of suspicion and distrust, will beget distrust and 
falsehood in others. 

Another motive, to which it may be safe to appeal, 
and which may not be appealed to in vain, is a desire to 
prepare for the active duties of life ; a leading of children 
to feel, that they are not laboring for their parents, or 
their teacher ; nor for their own present good, so much, 
as for their future benefit. The pupil who is preparing 
to enter upon a professional life, is induced to apply him- 
self more closely to his studies, knowing as he does, that 
permanent success depends mainly upon his own exer- 
tions. So the boy, who feels that he is to rely upon his 
own exertions for support, will be stimulated to greater 
diligence, if he is made to feel that success in life will 
depend much upon his excellence as a scholar. There 
is, or ought to be, no study pursued in any of our schools, 
which may not be recommended to the pupil for such 
reasons ; taking care that success in life be not measured 
by the false standard of pecuniary value, but by that ele- 
vation, excellence, and happiness, which should be its 
aim. 

But the highest and noblest motive, and one to which 
it may ever be safe to appeal, is that of conscientious- 
ness ; a deep, inwrought, and controlling desire of obey- 
ing the law of God, and of doing right because it is right. 
This principle is too much overlooked in all our systems 
of education. The conscientious scruples of the child 
are often treated v\ith derision, if not with contempt by 
his associates. He sees the world around him acting 
from some one or more of the many ordinary motives by 
which men are influenced ; among which selfishness holds 
a prominent place, if, indeed, it be not, in many cases 
2 



14 MR. GALLOUP's LECTURE. 

the predominant motive. He is constantly beset by the 
same temptations. No wonder that they should prove 
too strong for his power of resistance, strengthened as 
they are by the example of those around him. The 
wonder is that the still, small voice of conscience is ever 
heard, or when heard, is not stifled by the discordant 
sounds about him. It should be our aim, as teachers or 
parents, to correct this state of things, to take the side of 
conscience, and point out what is right and wrong ; and 
so to train and enlighten this inward monitor and judge, 
that the question of right shall always be suggested in the 
mind of the child, whenever he is tempted to the com- 
mission of any improper action. 

I am more and more convinced that learning for the 
love of it ; — for the pleasure which every new acquisition 
gives ; — a conscientious discharge of duty, and a deep 
sense of right ; are the motives most likely to produce 
the happiest results, unmixed with that which is evil ; 
and, that if they are properly appreciated and fostered, 
they will be found to be sufficiently powerful incentives 
to action ; — and, that we should seldom appeal to fear, 
or an unholy ambition, into which emulation too often 
degenerates, when too much excited. 

III. Teachers are in danger of yielding too readily 
to untried schemes, designed for the advancement of edu- 
cation. 

Strange as it may seem, this most difficult of all em- 
ployments, of training aright the youthful mind, is felt by 
the community generally, as one in which they are per- 
fectly competent to give advice, and where they con- 
sider the experience of the teacher of little value ; hence, 



DANGERS OF TEACHERS. 15 

visionary minds are constantly devising new plans to do 
the old work, and substituting the vagaries of their own 
imaginations, for the more certain results of experience. 

Practice and theory are very different things ; and the 
teacher should beware, how he disregards the teachings 
of the one, in his eager search for the other. He should 
be constantly building upon his own experience, a theory 
of his own ; incorporating into it, of course, any sugges- 
tions which he may receive from abroad, but never rely- 
ing solely upon the invention of others. He should origi- 
nate or form his own plans to suit the circumstances of 
the case; for however well the same plan might answer for 
two teachers, it will hardly be possible to find two schools 
so nearly alike, that the same system would operate equal- 
ly well in both ; hence the teacher who would be success- 
ful, should never be a copyist. 

Surely we live in an age of innovation, if not of im- 
provement ; and I am far from believing that there is not 
much of improvement, in what we term innovation. 
Change and a desire for change, are the prevailing pro- 
pensities of the age ; old landmarks are being removed, 
and new principles and new doctrines are professedly 
evolved. The great danger in all this is a tendency to 
the other extreme, a fondness for innovation, and for 
things that are novel, for novelty's sake ; from an impa- 
tience of all restraint. There is a disposition, where it is 
seen that ancient and venerated institutions contain some 
wrong principle, and consequent corrupt practices, to 
bring every thing belonging to them, whether good or bad^ 
under the verdict of reprobation. It is so in respect to 
schools and school discipline. At one time we are 
gravely told, that the use of the rod is a relict of barba- 



16 

rism ; the resort only of real or would-be tyrants ; and 
that soft words, honied expressions, and appeals to the 
pride or ambition of the pupil are the only rational means 
to be employed, to ensure obedience. And, anon, after 
an ephemeral existence, the last named wonderful discov- 
ery becomes more beautiful in theory than in practice, 
and cuffs and pinches are made a favorite resort, to avoid 
the humiliating concession of an utter abandonment of the 
principle. Again, systems of school discipline and in- 
struction are invented, designed to be universal in their 
application ; based upon the no less absurd assumption, 
that all schools and all scholars are alike ; and that the 
same system will prove alike successful in the hands of all. 
All such plans are as sure to fail, as that " Providence 
has determined that human minds should differ from each 
other, and for the very purpose of giving variety and in- 
terest to this busy scene of life. Now if it were possible 
for a teacher so to plan his operations, as to send his pu- 
pils forth upon the community, formed on the same model 
as if they were made by machinery ; he would do so 
much towards spoiling one of the wisest of the plans which 
the Almighty has formed for making this world a happy 
scene. Let it be the teacher's aim to co-operate with, 
not vainly to attempt to thwart, the designs of Providence, 
ever remembering that it is his province to cultivate, not 
to create.^* 

Again, there are some persons so wedded to the old 
paths, such ardent lovers of ancient usage, that they are 
disposed to look with suspicion upon any course in which 
they have not been accustomed to walk ; and to distrust 
all efforts at reform, as secretly designed to destroy that 
*Al)bott's Teacher. 



DANGERS OF TEACHERS. 17 

which they profess lo improve. He, therefore, who 
would be found exerting the greatest amount of influence, 
and doing the most good, must occupy the middle, but 
not neutral ground, — avoiding either extreme, but gather- 
ing wisdom and power from both. It is not that every 
thing new is not true, or that every thing true is not new ; 
even if it were so, a new dress, or a different aspect, 
might give to an old truth new beauties, and a greater 
prominence which it may always have merited, but never 
received. 

IV. Teachers are in danger of cultivating the intel- 
lectual, at the expense of the moral and the physical na- 
tures of their pupils. 

Most communities are acting erroneously upon this 
subject. They judge of the teacher, and award him the 
meed of praise, or of censure, in proportion to the amount 
of intellectual labor which he requires his pupils to ac- 
complish in a given time ; irrespective of the cost of ob- 
taining it, either in the sacrifice of the health, or the neglect 
of the heart. The teacher is in danger of being in- 
fluenced by this prevailing opinion, as he will seldom pos- 
sess a sufficiency of moral courage to enable him to rise 
above it. The best antidote may be found in the reflec- 
tion, that he is amenable to a higher power than public 
opinion; and, that however much present gratification the 
good opinion of others may afford him, a clear conviction 
of right, and the satisfaction of having conscientiously 
performed his duty, will in the end afford him far greater 
and more permanent happiness. 

A man's moral and religious nature is the highest part 
of his nature ; and the teacher has no right to neglect its 
2* 



18 MR. GALLOUP'S LECTURE. 

cultivation. It is his duty to train up the child for useful- 
ness and happiness ; not only for himself, but for others. 
Intellectual greatness may give him the ability to promote 
the welfare of others ; but this ability will rarely be ap- 
plied to that purpose, while tie is left a slave to his lower 
propensities. Talent and knowledge, to be a blessing 
either to the possessor or the world, must be placed un- 
der the control of the higher sentiments and principles of 
our nature ; nay, they may be, and often are a curse to 
both when not thus controlled and guided. It is not the 
uncultivated intellect that society has to fear, so much as 
the corrupt heart. The ignorant may, indeed, be made 
the tools of others ; but like tools, they are comparatively 
harmless, without that shrewdness, intelligence, and skill 
which are necessary to guide them. While on the other 
hand, those whose moral natures have not been properly 
cultivated, are ever sowing the seeds of evil, and corrupt- 
ing all those who come within the sphere of their influ- 
ence. Better, far better, that a man should remain in 
ignorance, than that he should eat of the fruit of the tree 
of knowledge, only to be made a more subtle and pow- 
erful adversary of God and humanity. 

But while the head, and the heart, are receiving a due 
share of attention, the body, the only organ of manifesta- 
tion to the world without, should not be entirely over- 
looked or neglected. The physical natures of those 
committed to our charge, have a claim upon our care and 
attention, which cannot be avoided, and should not be 
disregarded. 

Although we cannot, from our relation to the child, 
have so extensive an influence in forming or developing 
its physical nature, as the parent ; still there are some 



DANGERS OF TEACHERS. 19 

general laws of physiology, to which we may with pro- 
priety give heed ; and to the application of which, we are 
imperatively bound. Because we cannot do all, we are 
not excused for the non-performance of that little, for 
which we have time and opportunity. Among the laws 
most prominent, over which we have control, is that of 
the importance, and absolute necessity of a constant and 
abundant supply of fresh air, in order to promote the 
healthy activity of the mind, as well as that of the body. 
This law of our nature is not sufficiently understood or 
regarded. While we are in health, and are experiencing, 
as we erroneously suppose, no ill effects from a constant 
breathing of impure air, we are apt to solace ourselves 
with the fatal delusion, that there is no danger ; but as we 
grow older in the wrong doing, as our constitutions be- 
come seriously and permanently affected, nay, destroyed 
as they may be by the process ; then, when too late to 
repair the evil, we may begin to learn that no law of our 
nature, however trivial in our estimation, can be violated 
with impunity ; or, that the result of such violation can 
in any way be avoided. 

A medical writer,* who has given much attention to 
the subject, says, that "it is not certain that we remain 
uninjured, if we breathe over the second time, any por- 
tion of air which has the previous instant issued from a 
pair of lungs, whether ours or those of somebody else." 
His own opinion, he says, is Ci that no air, which has is- 
sued from the cavity of the lungs, should be inhaled 
again ; and that by neglect of this rule, though it be in 
ignorance, thousands and tens of thousands are slowly in- 
juring themselves, and implanting the seeds of disease in 

*Dr. Alcott. 



20 MR. 

various forms, especially consumption." " Be it remem- 
bered," says another,* "that mankind subsist more upon 
air than upon their meat and drink." " The respiration, 
we might almost say, the digestion of pure air, becomes 
therefore a matter of the highest importance to health. 
The moment we inhale any atmospheric impurities, that 
moment does the change of the blood in our lungs become 
more or less imperfect ;" hence, there is another danger 
incurred, from the congregating together of large numbers 
in the same apartment, from the quantities of sulphu- 
retted hydrogen gas which is expelled from our bodies ; 
than which a more subtle and poisonous agent can scarcely 
be found. 

The teacher should see that the school-room is at all 
times thoroughly ventilated ; and never rest, or suffer his 
patrons to do so, until the appropriate means are provided 
for doing this. Without constant care and attention, the 
air of the school-room will not be in a proper state for 
respiration ; and its evil tendency will be greatly increas- 
ed by its elevated temperature. " For want of attention 
to this subject," says the authorf above quoted, " and for 
want of a due supply of exercise, — joined, it may be, to 
the habit of going out suddenly into the colder, though 
purer air, without being sufficiently protected ; ten thou- 
sands sicken, and thousands die. Our school-rooms, our 
factories, our shops, and our sleeping apartments, — to say 
nothing of our parlors, and sitting rooms, — do more to 
people our grave-yards, every year, than what is usually 
called intemperance, with all its horrors." This may be 
thought a startling assertion. Be it so. I am not re- 
sponsible for it ; and Heaven grant that none of us, who 
*Dr. Thackrah. |Dr. Alcott. 



DANGERS OF TEACHERS. 21 

bear the office of teacher, should be responsible for suf- 
fering causes to exist within our control, which lead to 
results so disastrous. 

Something might be said upon the influence of the 
teacher in preventing the too frequent use, or indeed all 
use, of unripe or unwholesome fruits; and also of control- 
ling and directing the sports of children in such a manner 
as may be most conducive to the healthy development 
of all their faculties. But with this hasty glance I must 
pass onward, leaving it for other and abler hands to do 
justice to a subject, so full of interest, and so much over- 
looked. 

V. Teachers are in danger of cultivating the memory, 
at the expense of the understanding. 

This danger is not so imminent, perhaps, as formerly ; 
and yet, I fear, that by some it may not be wholly es- 
caped. New theories and new systems of teaching have 
labored to simplify and analyze what formerly the pupil 
received in the mass ; hence, his intellectual food is more 
thoroughly digested. The effort should be, not to see 
how much may be learned but how well, and the mere 
ability to repeat fluently the words of a lesson, should be 
considered a very small part of a good recitation. 

I do not intend to be understood as acceding to the 
frequently expressed opinion, that no scholar should be 
required to learn any thing which he does not thoroughly 
understand. This has been a favorite theory with some, 
until much of our teaching and many of our text-hooks, 
have become fit food for the nursery, rather than the 
school-room. No food should be prepared for another's 
reception, which that other is capable of masticating for 



22 MR. GALLOUp's LECTURE. 

himself, inasmuch as the rejection of a little nutrition 
would be far preferable to an entire paralysis of the diges- 
tive organs. Any subject which the pupil thoroughly 
understands, it may be profitable to require him to ex- 
press in his own language, for the reason, that he is in this 
manner taught most successfully the use of language, — 
his instrument for future use in the expression of his 
ideas ; and as it is the surest evidence that he understands 
the subject, when he can explain it understanding^ to 
others. In this way, his powers of mind are called into 
exercise to analyze and construct his sentences. His 
judgment is exercised to find out the best mode of ex- 
pression ; — and his vocabulary is enlarged and rendered 
more available. 

He is not to study what he understands, but to study 
that he may understand ; and the more effort he makes, 
the more is his capability of doing so increased. There 
will always by some things above his comprehension, 
which he must take upon trust. To this infirmity, if it 
be one, imperfect humanity will ever be subject. Here 
the memory must be called into requisition to treasure 
up, what after life, and more maturity of mind, will de- 
velop and bring into use. 

VI. Teachers are in danger of mistaking the end 
and object of education, supposing it to consist in a 
mere attainment of knowledge, or the treasuring up of the 
opinions, sayings, or doings of others ; irrespective of 
their use or application. In doing this, the memory be- 
comes the only faculty called into exercise, while the 
judgment, the conscience, and the affections, are left to 
wither and decay. Knowledge thus obtained will be 



DANGERS OF TEACHERS. 23 

useful, only in proportion to one's ability properly to 
apply it ; and this ability can only be obtained by a right 
cultivation of all the faculties. The same amount of knowl- 
edge may in one case be used as a means of usefulness 
and happiness, while in another it may serve only as an 
instrument for doing evil. The character of the indi- 
vidual decides the question, whether the knowledge which 
he may possess, will be a blessing or a curse, either to 
himself or to the community ; and the formation of this 
character depends, not so much on the amount of knowl- 
edge acquired, as on the influence exerted upon the 
pupil, by the circumstances, the examples, the discipline 
under whose operation he is placed. " Education, there- 
fore," in the words of another, "consists in the forma- 
tion of the character, and a good education, in the prep- 
aration of man for usefulness and happiness. It involves 
the right development, cultivation, and direction, of all 
his powers, physical, intellectual, and moral. It implies 
instruction in all the branches of knowledge which are 
necessary to useful and efficient action, in the sphere of 
the individual. But it must also include the physical 
training which is to render the body capable of executing 
the purposes of the soul, the skill which is requisite, in 
order to apply our knowledge and strength to the very best 
advantage, and above all, the moral training , by which the 
character and direction of our efforts are to be decided."* 
Though one cannot be truly educated, and yet be ig- 
norant, still he may have a large amount of rote-learning, 
an extensive collection of crude indigested facts, and be 
very far from being a really educated man. One is often 
said to be educated, or to have completed his education, 

# Annala of Education, page 153. 



24 MR. GALLOUP'S LECTURE. 

when he can repeat this man's Grammar, or that one's 
Geography or History, while his ability to profit by his 
attainments, is hardly greater than that of the most igno- 
rant. Education, 1 repeat it, does not consist in com- 
mitting to memory a certain amount of words or sen- 
tences, but in a proper development of all the faculties ; 
giving to each an appropriate, and to none an undue in- 
fluence. We have too many men of one idea, and few 
or none of perfectly developed characters ; and who 
shall say, how much of the radicalism of the day may not 
be attributable to this imperfect process of education, — 
developing one faculty at the expense of the others, — 
educating the head and neglecting the heart. 

Parents not unfrequently mistake the end and object 
of education, and it is for teachers to set them right. 
They judge of their child's proficiency by the number of 
pages he has gone over, or rather consumed, and by the 
number of books they have been called upon to purchase ; 
and not by the expansion, growth, and successful cultiva- 
tion of all his powers, — not by the available knowledge 
which he may possess, or by the power which he has 
acquired to obtain more. 

tc It has been much disputed," says one,* " whether 
it be the primary object of education, to discipline and 
develop the powers of the soul, or to communicate 
knowledge. Were these two objects distinct and inde- 
pendent, it is not to be questioned, that the first is un- 
speakably more important than the second. But, in truth, 
they are inseparable. That training which best disci- 
plines and unfolds the faculties, will, at the same time, 
impart, the greatest amount of real and effective knowledge ; 

*School and Schoolmaster, p. 33. 



DANGERS OF TEACHERS. 25 

while, on the other hand, that which imparts thoroughly, 
and for permanent use, the greatest amount of knowledge, 
will best develop, strengthen, and refine the powers." 

"In proportion as intellectual vigor and activity are 
more important than mere rote-learning, in the same pro- 
portion ought we to attach the more value to an education, 
which, though it only teaches a child to read, has, in so 
doing, taught him also to think. He who can think, 
and who loves to think, will become, with but few good 
books, a wise man. He who knows not how to think, 
or who hates the toil of doing so, will remain imbe- 
cile, though his mind be crowded with the contents of a 
library." 

This want of long and patient thought, on the part of 
the pupil, is at the present time, perhaps, the greatest 
fault in intellectual education ; and it is the most difficult 
thing to attain. It is so much easier, to hear a child 
repeat parrot-like, the words of another, than to awaken, 
close and vigorous thought, so much more satisfactory to. 
those who witness and judge of the exercises of a school, 
to see a promptness and flippancy on the part of the 
scholars in their recitations, than the slow and apparently 
hesitating process of the more thoughtful, that teachers 
are in danger of cultivating the former at the expense of 
the latter. 

The mind of the child should never be made a passive 
recipient of knowledge ; receiving it merely as a vessel 
receives water which is poured into it, and retaining it, 
only as a source of entertainment for superficial listeners 
at times of public display. Better, far better, that a few 
questions should be answered requiring thought on the 
part of the pupil, than a rapid succession of answers,, 
3 



26 MR. GALLOUP's LECTURE. 

merely suffered to escape, like pent-up steam, by the 
turning of a valve. The mind should be trained to pro- 
duce, rather than to receive : and those who labor mainly 
for the latter, greatly and fatally mistake the end, and 
object of education. This looking and laboring for pres- 
ent results, is making the period of education a time of 
harvesting. Instead of preparing the soil, sowing the 
seed, and training the young shoots to produce that fruit, 
which a lifetime only shall be adequate to gather in, we 
are looking too much for the fruit during the period of 
sowing, — expecting results, while putting into operation 
the causes which are to produce them. This may be in 
unison with man's impatient and hasty impetuosity after 
the things of this world ; but it is a violation of nature, 
and of nature's laws. Teachers are too much inclined 
to be satisfied with their labors, if the parents and patrons 
of their schools are so ; and parents do not always dis- 
criminate between the appearance, and the possession of 
knowledge. But to appear to know is not to know ; 
and teachers should never suffer the shadow to usurp the 
place of the substance, either in their own minds, or in 
the estimation of others. 

Teachers oftentimes err, by taking for granted what 
does not in fact exist, in supposing the child knows, when 
he does not know ; and thus from a misconception of his 
actual progress, they oftentimes may place an obstruction 
in his path, which will render his successive steps more 
difficult of attainment. To avoid this, they should never 
suffer their pupils to leave one principle for another, until 
by a succession of questions, explanations, and different 
statements, they feel assured that the former has obtained 
a lodgement in the minds of those they are endeavoring 



DANGERS OF TEACHERS. 27 

to teach ; never feel satisfied that because they under- 
stand the subject, and the pupil may say he does, that 
such is the fact ; until the pupil, by his own explanations 
and statements, shall render it certain ; and therefore safe 
to pass onward. It has been wisely said, that, "it is 
the subject that is to be taught, rather than the book.'' 1 
The book may, indeed, be a convenient instrument to 
aid one in doing this. By teaching but one thing at a 
time, and by assisting the pupil to overcome difficulties 
which may occur in his progress, we may best enable 
him to obtain that knowledge of any subject which is 
needful for a proper discharge of the duties of after life, 
with honor to himself, and with profit to others. We 
should seldom seek to remove difficulties from the learn- 
er's path ; he should be encouraged and assisted to over- 
come them himself. It is not what we do for him that 
is most valuable, but what we lead him to do for himself; 
as this kind of discipline is all important, to enable him 
to meet and overcome the trials, disappointments, and 
stern realities of life, when no helping hand will be near 
to smooth his rugged path, and shield him from the im- 
pending storm. 

There is another class of dangers, to which teachers 
are exposed, more personal in their character, as they 
relate more particularly to themselves ; some of which I 
proceed briefly to notice. 

I. We are in danger of losing our health, by too close 
application to our duties. 

The advantages of possessing sound health cannot be 
over-estimated, in its effect upon ourselves, and upon all 
those who come within the sphere of our influence. 



28 

Without it, we shall rarely possess that cheerfulness of 
disposition which the teacher should ever strive to pos- 
sess and retain, who would govern successfully those com- 
mitted to his charge. A person of a captious, morose, and 
impatient disposition should never be placed in a situation 
to influence, and form the mind and character of children. 
A person of unsound health is in constant danger of giv- 
ing way to a petulance of habit and manner, destructive 
to the growth of those finer feelings of our nature which 
we ever delight to see prominent in others. The teacher, 
above all others, needs to exercise freely and often while 
out of school ; and of all others he is, perhaps, the least 
inclined to do so. Any one who is at all acquainted with 
the duties of the teacher, experimentally, knows well 
the degree of lassitude, and disinclination to any effort, 
whether mental or physical, which oppresses him, and 
prompts him to seek repose whenever he escapes from 
the pent-up air of the school-room. He would almost 
as willingly die as move, and he is quite sure to die if 
he does not move. Almost any other employment gives 
exercise, air, and sunshine in the performance of its du- 
ties ; while in that of teaching, neither exercise, nor air, 
and but very little sunshine in its purity, is enjoyed. 
Hence, no employment needs so much out of door ex~ 
ercise, where we can breathe the clear, pure air of 
heaven. 

The teacher should banish, as far as possible, from his 
mind, during his hours of relaxation, all those subjects of 
anxiety and perplexity, which harass and torment him, 
and are a fruitful cause of that melancholy and low spirits, 
of which teachers are too often, and too justly accused. 
I know well the difficulty of leaving behind us, as we 



DANGERS OF TEACHERS. 29 

leave off a garment, all causes of disquietude, when we 
leave the school-room door ; but the effort should be to 
do so. The best and most ready way of doing so, is, to 
mingle freely in cheerful and pleasant society, or partici- 
pate in animated discussion ; where the mind will be re- 
leased from the trials of the day, and become exercised 
and strengthened, and the body invigorated by the con- 
sequent excitement. Nothing, perhaps, is more delete- 
rious in its influence upon a school, than a feeling of 
despondency, or in other words, low spirits. The 
teacher needs, in fancy, and in fact, to be ever awake ; 
his energy, his ardor, and his hope should never flag, that 
his scholars may be inspired with the same feelings ; and 
believing that they can overcome all obstacles, while they 
catch the spirit of their teacher, their young aspirations 
will gain encouragement by his example, and strength by 
their oicn exercise, till at last they will overcome obstacles 
which might have appeared almost insurmountable. In 
cheerfulness of spirit, in activity, strength, and fixedness 
of purpose, and in the ardor of their hope, the school 
will very much resemble their teacher. And these feel- 
ings will be active or otherwise, in a degree proportionale 
to the health of the body. 

So intimate is the connexion between the several parts 
of our compound nature, that the powers of the mind 
cannot be fully, freely, and successfully exercised, with- 
out a sound body : hence, 

II. The teacher is in danger of becoming diseased in 
mind, as well as in body. 

The dull routine of every day duties has a tendency to 
contract and belittle his mind ; while constant intercourse 

3* 



30 MR. GALLOUp's LECTURE. 

with infantile minds has a tendency to check all his upward 
flights, and hold him down to their own level ; until the 
mind, like a bow always bent, and never allowed to re- 
sume its former position, loses its elasticity, and approx- 
imates, to its every day aliment, if it does not become 
assimilated with it. The mind should come in contact 
with mature and cultivated mind in others, in order to 
elicit sparks of genius, and bring out in full and perfect 
development all its powers. This is in harmony with 
nature in all her operations. It is not the union of the 
steel with clay, but with the flint that produces the spark ; 
nor, is it the gentle, though long continued use of the 
arm, which gives power to the muscles ; but the sturdy 
blows of the smith who wields the sledge, or remains 
long at the anvil. 

It becomes the imperative duty of the teacher, to avoid, 
as far as may be, this deterioration of the mind and the 
body ; lest by successive steps in a downward course, he 
becomes, at length, incapacitated to retain his present 
position, and, in process of time, finds himself at the lower 
extremity of the inclined plane upon which he has invol- 
untarily entered. To do this, he should frequently suffer 
his mind to unbend from this rigid and unnatural tension, 
that it may gain its wonted elasticity ; or find opportunity 
to read attentively and critically the productions of able 
minds ; which may serve as some antidote for the evil of 
seclusion from contact with the living mind, as developed 
in the active business of life. 

The teacher should beware how 7 he neglects the culti- 
vation of his own vineyard, while he is caring for that of 
others. He should never feel satisfied with present at- 
tainments, or believe that he is prepared to teach others, 



DANGERS OF TEACHERS. 31 

merely by the aid of the printed page, as found in the 
text-book ; with the questions which he is expected to 
ask, all prepared, it may be for his use. He should study 
attentively, not merely the lesson of the day, but the sub- 
ject on which it treats ; and be enabled so to explain and 
illustrate it, that he may seldom fail to interest his class ; — 
always prepared to bring forth something new from his 
own storehouse. The text-book should be but the intro- 
duction to his own resources, which the pupil may use to 
advantage while alone ; and not merely an instrument of 
convenience, to minister to the ease of the teacher. 

If the teacher is disposed thus to qualify himself to 
meet his various duties, he will find ample scope for his 
own intellect, and sufficient employment for his leisure 
moments ; he will invigorate, strengthen, and promote the 
healthy activity of his own powers, while he will be pro- 
moting indefinitely the best good of the pupils of his 
charge. Let him do this, and his own powers of mind 
will never be found to deteriorate, but to be constantly pro- 
gressive, and the consciousness of having been faithful to 
his trust, and having left no effort untried to increase his 
usefulness, will exert a salutary influence upon the health 
of the body. 

III. There is danger of teachers'' cherishing a spirit 
of rivalry , of jealousy, or of exclusiveness, which will 
prevent that free interchange of opinion, and communica- 
tion of plans for the improvement of our schools; so es- 
sential to the inexperienced, and so beneficial to all who 
are engaged in the business of teaching. 

Teachers should ever feel a common interest in all ef- 
forts for the advancement of education ; — that any sue- 



32 MR. GALLOUP'S LECTURE. 

cessful experiment is not the sole property of the origi- 
nator, but so much to be added to the general fund in 
which all teachers are equally interested, and from the 
profits of which, all are entitled to an equal dividend. 
Teachers, above all others, need the sympathy and co- 
operation of each other, — a union of feeling and interest, 
which shall give them an influence and power to act upon 
the public mind, which could hardly be resisted, when 
put forth for good, in the cause of education. There are 
various ways in which teachers may co-operate with each 
other, to promote their common interests. Frequent 
and friendly visits to each other's schools will help to do 
this. There is no one, however skilled in the art of 
teaching, who may not. derive benefit from witnessing the 
internal arrangement, and mode of operation in another's 
school. He may see things to avoid, if not to imitate ; 
and to the less successful, such opportunities cannot but 
be productive of good. The practised eye of the teach- 
er, in almost any school, may find some things to con- 
demn, which have escaped the observation of the one 
conducting the exercises, merely because he has viewed 
them from a different point of observation ; or, hav- 
ing failed to correct them at the first, habit has con- 
firmed their practice, until they have ceased to arrest his 
attention. Visiters, under such circumstances, should 
consider themselves not as censors appointed to spy out 
the defects, and magnify the mistakes which they may 
chance to witness ; but as friends and fellow helpers co- 
operating for the mutual advantage of all, — considering 
individual, or personal prosperity as nothing, in compar- 
ison with the general and universal advancement of the 
business of instruction. 



DANGERS OF TEACHERS. 33 

It will be found beneficial to observe the standard to 
which scholars are brought, in their several studies, in 
different schools ; and knowing that " what has been done, 
may be done ;" teachers of the less advanced will be stim- 
ulated to put forth more vigorous effort, while those of the 
more advanced, feeling a consciousness of success, ever 
grateful to the heart of the teacher, will not suffer them- 
selves to lose the pleasure thus derived, by relaxing their 
efforts, or resting satisfied with present attainments. 

Teachers may do much to assist each other, by exerting 
their influence to correct the false impressions, and erro- 
nious notions, which may prevail in the community, upon 
the subject of school discipline and instruction ; and in 
doing this, they may find sufficient employment. The 
prevailing sentiment of the community affects essentially 
the well being of the school. How important, then, that 
this sentiment should be correct, for, the teacher will labor 
in vain to stem a current, setting constantly against him. 

With the teaching of the school, parents and friends 
profess to know but little ; but as it respects the disci- 
pline of the school, they profess to know everything ; nor 
will they be slow to obtrude their supposed knowledge 
upon the notice of the teacher, upon all suitable or unsuit- 
able occasions. Teachers, then, should have a control- 
ling influence in forming and correcting public opinion 
upon school discipline, as they value its favorable influ- 
ence, or, as they deprecate its baneful and officious inter- 
ference. 

Frequent meetings of teachers for mutual improvement 
have been found to be productive of much good, wher- 
ever they have been enjoyed and permanently sustained. 
But let it be remembered, that all who unite in these 



34 

meetings, should not consider themselves as hearers 
merely, but be sure to take a part in the exercises ; either 
by writing or otherwise ; for the advantages accruing to 
individuals, will be in direct proportion to the interest 
which they take, and the amount of effort which they put 
forth to sustain such meetings. Let no one complain of 
a want of interest in them, and a lack of usefulness, until 
he has done all he can to render them more useful ; and 
let no one complain of inability, until he has made the ef- 
fort and failed of success. It may be said, that in cities 
and large towns, this plan may be successfully carried 
into operation, but in the small towns, the result cannot 
be so easily obtained. There may be force in this 
objection, but still it is not conclusive. I know of 
no place so situated as to render it impracticable to 
hold meetings of teachers, either in separate towns, or 
by the union of several towns ; which last course might 
be advantageously adopted. I can, as I think, perceive 
much to recommend the union of several towns in such 
an enterprise. It would convince the people, that we 
were in earnest in the matter, — that we were willing to 
sacrifice our own time, convenience, and ease, it may be, 
for their good; and it is here, as every where else, that 
when one is found to be in earnest, he then, if not before, 
begins to be listened to favorably, and to exert an influ- 
ence upon others. 

These meetings, at stated times, might be open for the 
attendance of parents and others, partaking something of 
he character of district meetings ; where a very good 
opportunity would be presented for teachers from a 
neighboring town, to speak with a directness of applica- 
tion, of the particular wants of such district, and say 



DANGERS OF TEACHERS. 35 

things which would come best from the lips of a stranger. 
They might speak of the duties of parents, — of their neg- 
lect of their schools, or of their unnecessary and misjudged 
interference ; and thus, while speaking in general terms, 
but with particular application, they would be assisting 
each other to correct evils, which individual teachers 
might labor in vain to effect. 

The importance of a union of feeling and effort, cher- 
ished and strengthened by a frequent meeting together of 
teachers, and a frequent visiting of each other's schools, 
for the purpose of seeing their various plans in actual op- 
eration, cannot be over estimated. One may read, as 
he certainly should, much upon the subject of education ; 
he may be educated in the Normal school, but after all, he 
must take life with life's conditions, as it presents itself 
in its varied aspects, and under widely differing circum- 
stances. 

IV. There is danger of teachers failing to estimate, 
as they should, the responsibility of their office. 

Too many teachers are the mere creatures of circum- 
stance. They are placed in their position by some acci- 
dental occurrence, and retain it, only for its emolument, 
or as an intermediate step to some more desirable situa- 
tion. They have no heart in the business ; hence, they 
seldom sit down and count the cost of the influence which 
they are exerting, for good or for evil, upon the future 
characters and lives of their pupils. When they reflect, 
that every blow they strike, may not cease to act upon 
the future destiny of their charge, " while time shall last 
or immortality endure ;" they can hardly be expected to 
estimate accurately the responsibility of their situation ; 



36 

though they may strive earnestly to do so. I would not 
undervalue the many sources of influence, brought to 
bear upon the child, in the formation of its character. 
They all have their appropriate sphere of action, and it 
is only by continuing in that sphere which properly be- 
longs to them, that their influence is made to be either 
extensive or useful. The teacher has his sphere of op- 
eration, and it is none the less important, because there 
may be others laboring to the same end. It is not too 
much to say, that the success of all our institutions, civil, 
literary, and religious, depend mainly upon the labors of 
the teacher. In vain will the statesman descant upon the 
best models, and the best modes of administering gov- 
ernment, if the people are incapable of judging, or of 
appreciating their worth. In vain, that the eloquence of 
the bar should be called into requisition, to sustain those 
laws which our fathers, in their wisdom, have seen fit to 
enact and transmit to us ; while ignorance, the hot-bed, 
if not the generator of crime, is the predominant charac- 
teristic of the people. In vain, that he, who ministers 
at the altar, should strive to unfold to the mind the sacred 
and sublime truths of revelation, and enforce its duties up- 
on the uneducated and the superstitious. The teacher 
must prepare the ground, by so unfolding and training the 
mental and moral powers of the child, that he may be 
prepared readily to receive, and properly to cherish the 
seed that may be sown. What we are as a nation, and 
what w T e enjoy as a people, may be mainly attributable 
to the high regard paid by our ancestors to the cause of 
popular education ; and their corresponding efforts to 
transmit, unimpaired, the same sentiments to us. 

Education is the surest preventive of crime. The 



DANGERS OF TEACHERS. 37 

statistics of all Christian, as well as Pagan countries, go 
to prove this assertion. Spain, in which it has been said 
that, until recently there was but one newspaper ; and in 
which not more than one in twenty of the people are in- 
structed in schools, has a population about equal to that 
of England and Wales ; while the number of convictions 
for murder, or for maiming with intent to kill, was in one 
year, in the former country, tivo thousand and six ; and 
in the latter, in the same length of time, it was only 
twenty-seven ! We cannot be surprised that in such a 
land, the foulest crimes should seek no concealment, and 
pass unpunished or undeplored ; — that scenes of blood- 
shed should constitute the favorite amusement of the 
people; — and, that their only security, of person or of 
property, should consist in their successful intrigue, or 
their power of resistance. How different the spirit and 
the character developed by a proper system of education. 
Those, whose minds and whose hearts have been prop- 
erly trained and disciplined by education, have control 
over their passions. Having cultivated a taste for simple 
and innocent pleasures, rather than a love for vicious ex- 
citement, their desires are awakened by objects higher 
than any gratification merely animal. Instead of being 
mere creatures of impulse, they become reasoning and 
reflective beings, governed by a sense of justice, and of 
right, which leads them to respect and concede the rights 
of others. Forming plans for a distant future, they thus 
rise nearer and nearer to a spiritual existence ; while all 
the sentiments and principles bestowed by the Creator, 
are made to occupy their proper places, and move to- 
gether in subordination, to the great ends of their being. 
If contemplations like these, upon the importance of 
4 



38 MR. GALLOUP'S LECTURE. 

the subject, do not inspire the teacher with exalted views 
of the dignity and responsibility of his calling, let him 
reflect upon the nature and value of the material, on 
which he is called to operate. This is nothing less than 
a living, thinking, accountable, immortal mind, — a soul 
made in the very image of its Creator ; the crown and 
glory of his creation. The amount of care and pains due 
to a given work, is in proportion to the value of the ma- 
terial on which the labor operates, and the importance 
of the object contemplated. The most transparent and 
purest marble, even gold and diamonds, on which is ex- 
pended such exquisite art, are valueless, compared with 
the human mind. Let us contemplate its godlike nature ; 
its stupendous powers of thought, enjoyment, and suffer- 
ing ; its high responsibilities, and immortal existence. 
Let us reflect, that long after all material monuments of 
skill and of glory shall have crumbled and perished, the 
mind will endure ; and that though we may seem, for a 
time, to labor upon it with little success, and less reward, 
still we are doing a work that will last forever, and which, 
if well done, will be sure to be fully rewarded and appre- 
ciated at a future period. 

The teacher operates upon the mind in an important 
period of its existence. It is in its formative state, and 
it might be well to consider the child, not as he is, but 
as he is soon to be. From among the mass of pupils, on 
whom we may now look as almost worthless, so feeble 
their intellects, so limited their knowledge, so difficult, it 
may be, that we find it practicable to fix in their minds 
the simplest and plainest principles ; we are to find our 
future rulers, statesmen, and divines ; those with whom 
will rest our future destinies as a people, with all our in- 



DANGERS OF TEACHERS. 39 

terests. They are the fathers and mothers, on whom 
will depend the peace and happiness of all the families, 
and the training up of all the sons, and all the daughters 
of the land. Surely, to be instrumental of putting into 
operation the causes which lead to results so stupendous, 
is an honor to which kings might aspire, and shows the 
calling of the teacher, to be second in dignity and im- 
portance to none other. 

But soon our duties and our opportunities will cease. 
What we do, must be done quickly. And, if we would 
have our names embalmed in the grateful remembrance 
of those who shall come after us, let no sacrifice be with- 
held, no self-denial spared, and no labor refused, that we 
may give a right, direction to that mass of mind with 
which we come in contact from day to day. "No man 
liveth for himself." We live for the world ; we live for 
posterity ; we live for eternity ! And taking the Bible 
for our guide, the example of Him, who went about 
doing good, for our pattern, and the glory of Jehovah for 
our end, we shall not live in vain, nor die ingloriously, 
though the world applaud us not, and its honors and 
emoluments be not our portion. 



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